Avengers/Thunderbolts #3
Originally presented on Comixtreme.com on April 30, 2004
Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Nerves
Iron Man continues his infiltration of the Thunderbolts… but does Moonstone suspect something’s up?
Writers: Kurt Busiek & Fabian Nicieza
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Gary Erskine
Colors: Brian Reber
Letters: Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Barry Kitson
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Review: Last issue, as the Avengers grew more suspicious of Baron Zemo’s intentions with the Thunderbolts, they disguised Iron Man as the old villain Cobalt Man and sent him in as a mole. This issue, Moonstone begins to poke holes through his disguise. Meanwhile, Hawkeye begins to learn that perhaps neither of his teams have been entirely honest with him.
Ever since the previous series ended (effectively with issue #75, before it became the supervillain “Fight Club” farce), Thunderbolts fans have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Songbird, Atlas… even Moonstone were characters we believed could truly reform. But Baron Zemo? Could such a villain, not to mention the son of such a villain, who has plagued Captain America for so many years… could he really reform, or has he got something else up his sleeve. That seems to be one of the questions this miniseries is intended to answer, and it’s one of the most fascinating character studies I’ve seen in comics in years. Like the best issues of the Thunderbolts series, this story is about characters on the edge, walking the line between hero and villain, trying to decide what they really are and what they’re going to be.
Tom Grummett pinch-hits for Barry Kitson on the art chores in this issue, and as he did on his recent Teen Titans run, he continues to show why he’s one of the most underappreciated pencillers in the business. Grummett draws strong heroes, dynamic poses and great action sequences. Bonus points go to the whole creative team for including one of the best ideas from Busiek’s run on Avengers - the holographic globe-scanning apparatus that the team ostensibly uses to search for threats, but that doesn’t get used often enough in my opinion.
This is shaping up to be a great miniseries for fans of both properties who have been disappointed in how they’ve been treated lately. We already know Avengers is in for a renaissance in a few months. Hopefully this mini will inspire Marvel to give the Thunderbolts the same.
Rating: 8/10
Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Nerves
Iron Man continues his infiltration of the Thunderbolts… but does Moonstone suspect something’s up?
Writers: Kurt Busiek & Fabian Nicieza
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Gary Erskine
Colors: Brian Reber
Letters: Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Barry Kitson
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Review: Last issue, as the Avengers grew more suspicious of Baron Zemo’s intentions with the Thunderbolts, they disguised Iron Man as the old villain Cobalt Man and sent him in as a mole. This issue, Moonstone begins to poke holes through his disguise. Meanwhile, Hawkeye begins to learn that perhaps neither of his teams have been entirely honest with him.
Ever since the previous series ended (effectively with issue #75, before it became the supervillain “Fight Club” farce), Thunderbolts fans have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Songbird, Atlas… even Moonstone were characters we believed could truly reform. But Baron Zemo? Could such a villain, not to mention the son of such a villain, who has plagued Captain America for so many years… could he really reform, or has he got something else up his sleeve. That seems to be one of the questions this miniseries is intended to answer, and it’s one of the most fascinating character studies I’ve seen in comics in years. Like the best issues of the Thunderbolts series, this story is about characters on the edge, walking the line between hero and villain, trying to decide what they really are and what they’re going to be.
Tom Grummett pinch-hits for Barry Kitson on the art chores in this issue, and as he did on his recent Teen Titans run, he continues to show why he’s one of the most underappreciated pencillers in the business. Grummett draws strong heroes, dynamic poses and great action sequences. Bonus points go to the whole creative team for including one of the best ideas from Busiek’s run on Avengers - the holographic globe-scanning apparatus that the team ostensibly uses to search for threats, but that doesn’t get used often enough in my opinion.
This is shaping up to be a great miniseries for fans of both properties who have been disappointed in how they’ve been treated lately. We already know Avengers is in for a renaissance in a few months. Hopefully this mini will inspire Marvel to give the Thunderbolts the same.
Rating: 8/10